A big thanks to Djephson who is helping me capture the impact of the current situation on our community. The past four videos I have shared have been of Lemuel staff members. Yes, things are very hard for them. But for those without work, it's a whole other level. There are many people literally walking on the edge of survival. We are scrambling to try to find ways to pull them back as the drought and inflation intensify. Waterholes are a huge part of that as you will hear...
*Note: "costs a man's head" is sort of like the English phrase, "costs an arm and a leg."
This man, known as Uncle D, mentioned in the video that he drinks the water from the newest waterhole. This is a picture of that water, taken today. This is considered the cleanest of the waterholes and is where many people now come to collect drinking water.
Yes. It's horrifying to think that people are drinking this water. But how much more horrifying would the situation be if there were no waterholes?
Friends, people are coming from miles away to collect water from this and other waterholes. Trucks are coming from Anse-Rouge to take waterhole water into the town because so many people can not afford the cost of a truckload of clean water (over $100US right now). This water is quite literally saving lives.
But you can see in the picture that the water is drying up. You can also see that Djephson and his team are working to deepen the sections that are already dry, so that the next time rainwater comes down in the ravines, we can capture even more. They have been pushing hard for weeks. They know that people's lives depend on this water. And they know that if we are to be able to eek out any kind of future food production in these conditions, we need this water. This is desperate.
And we need your help.
First, would you join us in praying for rain to fill the waterholes again soon? Last year they were filled on Easter Sunday! What a beautiful thing it would be if that happened again!
Second, the loader you see in the picture is being rented by the week. It costs about $3000US a week to keep the loader going. As our guys push to get as much done as possible, would you consider giving toward these costs? Each day of work means thousands more gallons of water that we can collect. If you are interested in giving toward this project, please see below.
I am planning to look more closely at the waterholes and the food production I mentioned above in the coming weeks. But I wanted to go ahead and share this little glimpse now, as the need is quite urgent.
How to donate:
If you have previously donated through Extreme Response and would like to continue donating that way, you can do so here. Please be sure to specify that the donation is for Lemuel Ministries: Water.
Did you know that Lemuel now has its own 501c3? You can donate directly by sending a check to Lemuel Ministries - designated "Water" - to 1849 Lititz Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601. Donations will be deposited directly into our US account and you will receive a tax-deductible receipt at the end of the calendar year. You may also donate through PayPal using OLAD.Lemuel@gmail.com.
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